ODESSA, Texas — COVID-19 has forced business owners to be creative.
"It's not business as usual," Darlene Mays, the City of Odessa code enforcement education administrator said.
"Our farmer's market is not taking place in Odessa and they've grown all of these produce that they need to get rid of, so they're setting up on our street corners," Mays said.
But there are some rules that dictate that creativity in Odessa, namely an ordinance for itinerant vendors and peddlers.
"Peddlers go door to door, itinerant vendors set up temporarily at locations," Mays said.
These traveling business people need to fill out an application with the city and get a background check with OPD among other things and then they receive their permit if all goes well.
"People are looking for another avenue, another platform in which they can get their goods out," Mays said.
The city said they've noticed the increase in these kinds of vendors lately on the corners of Andrews Highway and other highly trafficked areas.
City officials just want to make sure that everyone is following the rules as they reinvent their business as a vendor.
"We believe in the health and safety of our community. We want to make sure that everyone is safe," Mays said.